Cheshire Smile
by August Harry
Summary: Friendships are great. They provide you over time with familiarity, comfort, and sometimes excitement in life. But if a friendship leads to something else, something beyond what it is, what would you do? Or what would Harumi do? Is there right or wrong in it? This is Harumi's take on it.
1. Chap 1: Intro

A/N: Starting off with a new story, this is just the intro.!

My dear friend, Aihara Yuzu, who I have a thing for, is currently my best friend. It has been a few months since we first met, and I remember the day clearly. The first day of school, I wanted to look good. Our school regulations are very strict and students are so boring that they actually diligently succumb to the lifestyle that school claims to be proper for students. Well, I did not agree with that. Normally I wouldn't go this far but I did manicure AND pedicure and took my sweet time to do the styling with hair-dryer. It was the best I could do, as a protest, to show that I am in control of my school life which I really was not. But that did not stop me from trying! The beginning of the school year, the spring semester, drops of sakura flower petals were sitting on passengers' heads and shoulders.

"It's going to be a fantastic day, I can feel it!"

And that supposedly fantastic day started with an unusual sight. But Harumi started hearing cacophony coming from a crowd. There was indeed a commotion at the school gate.

"Huh, are you, all on your high horse, the student council president here? What did I do wrong? This is my first time being here, I couldn't have known the school regulations!"

'Wah, is that girl talking back to the Aihara Mei the ice princess? She's got some nerve! I can't say I don't like that, though,' thought Harumi. It really was an unusual sight where Aihara Mei goes out of her way to give a speech to a mere delinquent student (that was also rare in this school, by the way) and the transfer student seemed to be resisting, how amazing! And then, I heard a loud uproar. And it was none other than Aihara Mei, hugging that transfer student?! What the hell has gotten into her? Then I saw a cell phone taken away from the blonde. 'Oh, so she was just taking away the cell phone. Wait, that still doesn't legitimize the hugging!' And next thing you know, the girl lost strength to stand on her own feet and fell down on her knees in shock. To no one's surprise, indeed. 'This is going to be interesting,' she thought to herself.


	2. Chap 2:Pleasant beginning of school year

A/N: I'm not a proficient writer normally, but caffeine pills do magic! I am not condoning overdosing this stuff here but personally, I'll take advantage of this new-found mental alertness to produce more work.

The homeroom has started.

Harumi was one of those students who was too engrossed in the morning disturbance at the gate that she barely made it on time. Her class was 1-E and located right next to the classroom were the stairs, which was just perfect because not only will they provide her with the best access to the school cafeteria downstairs, also they will enable her to go up to the roof and have her short getaway almost every short break they have between classes. Those who have already graduated high school may find this just amusing and pointless, but it was huge to a 24/7 lively and hyped high school student stuck in a school with the tightest regulations in existence. In fact, Harumi was almost disgusted by her goody-two-shoes classmates. Their attitude seemed too disingenuous and the brunette found it pretentious as to present the betterment that fundamentally did not exist in the first place. There were too many complaints she could have made, but we will stop here for now.

The homeroom teacher began the roll-call and it was a perfect time for Harumi to look around and check out her classmates as to see which ones are pretty and which ones look friendly and so on. And it took her less than 5 seconds to spot the blonde that was in the center of the commotion that transpired in the morning. 'Oh, so she's in the same class. Nice!' It was just another excitement factor added to what could have been a flat boring school year.

"Miyamura Yuzu."

"Here."

'Oh, so her name is Yuzu. Good to know!' Harumi had her eyes right on her and decided to chat her upright as the break starts. The homeroom speech, however, lasted unusually long because the very transfer student had her hair dyed freaking light blonde and there were just too many regulations she was breaking and the teacher had to inform her every one of them while reminding every one of those rules, too, so that they would not even dare to think about making the blonde an example and breaking bad. The young teacher who was still not very used to teaching and a bit awkward towards her pupils did not have a heart to directly chastise and humiliate Yuzu in front of everyone on her very first day in school. It was one of her many a trait the young girls of high-schoolers loved about her, regardless of the fact that most students were nice and well-behaved without being told anyway. Even Harumi could not help finding her homeroom teacher admirable and sometimes even cute. Anyhow, she could not drag out her speech forever and the first break came. Harumi saw Yuzu trying to make friends by casually mentioning her gyaru lifestyle and inviting her peers to join her to karaoke while, to no one's surprise, failing miserably. Getting awkward reactions and no response from her peers, the blonde fidgeted while looking confused and disappointed which was the queue for Harumi to jump in.

"Hey, come here, you."

Hamuri grabbed the oblivious transfer student and dragged her into the corner.

"Hi, Harumi here, nice to meet you."

A short introduction bemused the other girl a little bit, but Hamuri continued.

"You can't do that here, you see."

"How do you mean? Oh, by the way, I'm Yuzu as introduced earlier."

The confused girl replied with a bit of a dumbfounded expression. 'That's cute,' thought Harumi.

"What I mean is, most of the girls here have been brought up in this greenhouse of a school since they were 6 to show respect to one another and behave all the time. You might as well call them nuns because that's what they are as far as I'm concerned."

Harumi explained the environment of the school in detail so that the girl would not make any more unnecessary mistakes in the future.

"So that was it! Thanks, you're a life-saver. Can I buy you a drink?"

The girl kindly offered, getting all excited to have found someone to talk to. 'Yep, pretty cute indeed.' The brunette was already starting to feel like they had been friends for years.

"Sure! But the next class is about starting now, so let's talk in the next break."

Both girls waved hands and went back to respective seats. Harumi's heartbeat rhymed with the loud class bell. The class was about to start, and so was the new stage of her life.


	3. Chap 3: Mineko's room

A/N: It's been a long while, everyone.

I've been meaning to continue writing but I was lacking motivation and inspiration.

While I do want to keep on writing, I don't want to force myself to put out more pieces, either :p

However, new follows, favorites, comments, and the likes motivate me greatly, so much so that it makes a difference of months as in how long I take to write a new chapter. Not begging but it is what it is for me. So if you're waiting, do not hesitate to follow/comment, and thanks for reading my work!

The Math class went on dully as usual. Harumi was not particularly studious and Math was not that bad but it was as equally boring as any other subjects. Harumi usually tried to focus in class because she had to maintain a certain level of grades otherwise her older sister would murder her joy in life entirely. Having an older sister can be tough but in Harumi's case, her sister was a lot older than Harumi herself, so it was twice or ten times as difficult as it should be.

Sighing quietly, Harumi looked towards the transfer student. It seemed obvious she was having trouble understanding the content of the class as her eyes widened and then twitched as the teacher explained the concepts. It was a bit amusing and surprising to Harumi that she was actually trying to learn, considering the referred student was clearly a gyaru, and they are not known for paying attention in class. But then again, Harumi herself was also a gyaru (in disguise). The transfer student's existence was intriguing to Harumi in many ways. After class was over, Harumi chatted her up and took her to the school convenient store. They knew having snacks during breaks can be fattening but what better way to bond than talking over sweets as high school girls? They talked on their way back to their classroom.

"So, you're new to this town?"

"Yea, because of family matters we move a lot so…"

"Oh, then does that mean you could transfer again soon?"

"No, at least not until I graduate, hopefully."

The conversation went on for a bit but the 15-minute break was too short for a long chat, so they decided to talk more during lunch. Every time class was over, she made an effort to talk to her classmates near her to make friends, unsuccessfully. Yuzu apparently started to take a different approach and not speak like a gyaru (that she is) with her new classmates, but that seemed to be not working, unfortunately. There were a few students who actually properly responded to Yuzu's attempts, but the cultural gap was too much so that even the most friendly bunch drifted away from her. The blonde seemed to be disappointed but Harumi thought it was just a matter of time her classmates open up to her eventually, but not before, of course, Harumi stepped in and became Yuzu's first friend at this school.

Lunch break came (finally) and Harumi invited Yuzu to join her for lunch at the cafeteria. The school cafeteria basically had a fixed menu aside from occasional seasonal special dishes, however, there were many options to choose from. As it was too crowded, they hastily chose their respective meals and got their tickets where Harumi picked curry with rice and Yuzu ramen. They had to wait until they had a table to sit at, which took about 5 minutes, and they took their seats. Harumi had thought about having a long chat while eating but it was obviously not going to happen. Right after finishing their meals, Harumi took Yuzu to the somewhat secluded area to chat. As soon as she confirmed the coast was clear, she took out her phone to exchange their email addresses.

"Ta-da!"

"HEY! Your phone! I had mine taken away in the morning!"

"I know, I saw everything. That was pretty funny, you know."

"Hey! That's mean!"

"Sure, sure. Anyway, give me your email address. You can save mine when you get your phone back."

"Ok, but when am I going to get it back, or better yet, how?"

Harumi chuckled at how her bemused friend.

"Don't worry, you will just have to pay a visit to Mineko's room. She might give you a hard time but you may even be able to get it back today, considering it's your first day here."

Harumi could see Yuzu was getting visually pleased to hear it, quite amusingly so. Time swiftly went by and lunch break ended. The two headed to their classroom while exchanging friendly banters. Class resumed, but Harumi was busy thinking about what to do after school with Yuzu. Even if they were not going to hang out today, there had many days ahead of them together. It had been a really long time since Harumi felt this way.

A few hours later all the classes were over and the class was dismissed as they said goodbye to their homeroom teacher. Harumi stood up and walked up to Yuzu wearing a big smile on her face.

"Hey, Yuzu, let's go home together."

Harumi told her friend grinning.

"Oh no, I have to get my phone back, remember? Sorry, I don't know how much it will take, you can just go without me."

"Oh, right, your phone! Ok then, see you tomorrow!"

Harumi was inwardly disappointed but walked out of the classroom alone. Once she reached the front gate of the school, however, she stopped. Ms. Mineko was well-known for scolding her pupils all the time and her unforgiving attitude could be too much for a transfer student like Yuzu that she might cry. Harumi ran back in the school building and got to the Mineko's room. She could hear Ms. Mineko's voice from afar in the hallway. She leaned against the wall and heard the scolding and 'yes, yes, sorry, ma'am' coming from the inside. 10 minutes...20 minutes...Harumi started to think they might come out any time. She had to leave now unless she wanted to have a really awkward moment with her new friend. 'Maybe just 5 more minutes,' thought Harumi sitting on the floor with her knees up and arms around her legs. Harumi waited and waited.

'I really should leave now,'

thought Harumi, not moving an inch.

[Flashback over]


End file.
